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dry ice is nothing more than co2. it's -109 degrees. this will allow you to wrap it around the pipe with rags to allow it to freeze the water in the pipe. allowing for repairs without shutting off the water.

it's a poor mans pipe freezing kit.

i have the co2 kits that inject the co2 into what looks like blood pressure cuffs. this is done with liquid co2 tanks/ siphon tanks. you wrap the proper cuff around the line and use the proper timing sequence to inject and pack the dry ice around the stagnant water. the pipe can't have flow or it will never freeze.

i also have the 2000 and 2500 ridgid superfreeze units that circulate freon through the aluminum heads. the superfreeze 2000 will do up to 1.5'' copper and the 2500 will do up to 2.5'' copper.

i prefer the superfreeze as it's easy to plug in and you never run out of co2.

combine the superfreeze with propress and you'll be the coolest kid on the block

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Interesting stuff fellas. It's always fun to ask a question on this Forum!

I suppose the follow-up question for those of you who own press tools becomes: Are you using them more or less than last year? I'm also wondering how many of your calls require it. For example, in ten jobs that involve copper/stainless, how many of them involve ProPress?

Again, thanks for your input. You guys are the best!

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in the last 3yrs i have used copper pipe very little ,now this is commercial HVAC work .we now are doing a lot of heat pumps with cooling towers and geothermal so all the piping is sec80 pvc .
on 2 big jobs i just did 1 plumber soldered his pipes and the other used propress
so if the plumber can sell a copper job they will otherwise they will use other types of piping if they have a choice .

if i had a choice to use copper or sec80 pvc i would use copper ,i hate pvc for heating pipes

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Dave, We've had a pro press on the shop shelf for about two years now. Got talked into purchasing it at a trade show. It works fine, we have no problems with the tool itself. There are really only three problems with the whole system. # 1, The tool is really expensive and having to buy one for each truck is cost prohibitive. I have to justify the cost against productivity and we just don't do that much copper work anymore. # 2, the fittings are very expensive, should be handled with care, and can be hard to get. # 3, Most of us are going to pex as copper prices continue to rise.

I have used the tool for repair work a few times, and it's great if there's water in the pipe, but a set of Jet Swett tools is a whole lot less expensive and works just as well.

On the whole I suspect that it's a technology that just came on the market at the wrong time.

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When I was working with a commercial company back in Pennsylvania, we used the propress on 4" copper water mains. Now that I do basically all service work, the only time it would be of use is for waterheater replacements. But again, the cost of fittings is high.It also seems like every copper leak I run into I can barely reach with my torch let alone a propress. Heck, Pex crimpers are often too big...

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dry ice is nothing more than co2. it's -109 degrees. this will allow you to wrap it around the pipe with rags to allow it to freeze the water in the pipe. allowing for repairs without shutting off the water.

it's a poor mans pipe freezing kit.

How does this work and how do you make it? I might need to know this when I'm stuck in BFE trying to fix something.

How does this work and how do you make it? I might need to know this when I'm stuck in BFE trying to fix something.

first off, you only use this method when you need to isolate the water and can't shut off the entire system. it also requires that there be no flow on the line you're trying to freeze. if there's flow, no go

get some dry ice and some towels. you will need to break the dry ice back down to a snow cone of ice. you then take the towels and hand pack the shredded dry ice around the pipe that you want to freeze. pack the ice tight around the pipe and wrap it with a towel. let if sit and you should see a frost line around the pipe/ towel if it is freezing. a squirt bottle will also help to see if it frozen next to the towel.

if it's frozen, then test the line by opening a faucet and see if the water is truly off.

once again it's risky when you don't have the proper tools. also it's really used in areas where you can't shut off the system. such as hospitals, schools and similar situations.